The Star-News

Early prep track and field leaders starting to separate from the pack

Fri, Apr 04 2014 02:35 PM Posted By: Phillip Brents

The top track and field athletes of 2014 have started to emerge through the opening month of the season, and it appears South County will once again figure prominently in qualifying for this year’s state championship meet.

Eastlake senior Wes Braddock and Titan junior Johnna Noiseaux highlight the top returners locally after qualifying for last year’s state championship meet.

Braddock once again ranks among the San Diego Section leaders after setting a school record in the boys discus throw with a mark of 167 feet, 9 inches in a non-league dual meet against visiting Chula Vista on March 26.

Braddock’s mark ranks second in the section this year to the 180-2 mark posted by Madison’s Dotun Ogundeji; the Titan thrower also ranks second in the section in the shot put with a personal-best mark of 55-3 (behind Ogundeji’s section-leading mark of 65-4.5).

Ogundeji is the national leader in the shot put.

Braddock’s best marks last year were 154-7 in the discus and 53-9.5 in the shot put. He earned his ticket to last year’s state meet as the San Diego Section’s No. 1 qualifier in the shot put but finished 17th in a field of 28 throwers at the state prelims with a mark of 53-2.

Braddock’s best mark in the shot was recorded at the section finals — then a personal record.

Noiseaux finished as the No. 2 qualifier at the section finals with a mark of 37-1. However, she finished 21st out of 27 competitors with a mark of 35-9.5 at the state prelims.

The Titan jumper currently ranks eighth in the event in the section with a mark of 34-11, also set in the dual meet against Chula Vista.

However, the season is still young and there’s plenty of time for improvement — and for other athletes to enter their names among the section leaders.

State of mindThe Metro Conference qualified athletes to compete in six events at last year’s state championship meet in Clovis, with Otay Ranch seniors Xander Law (boys pole vault) and Carina Gillespie (girls 800-meter run) both coming home with fifth-place medals.

Eastlake senior Kayla Lawson advanced to compete in the girls 100 dash while Bonita Vista earned a berth in the girls 4x400 relay. However, only the two Mustangs advanced past the opening day prelims.

Lawson finished sixth in her prelim heat and 21st out of 29 runners overall with a time of 12.22 — well off her season best of 12.01.

Bonita Vista, after recording a season best 3:55.40 to place third overall at the section finals, held the No. 2 position briefly early on in its prelim heat but slowed to fifth place in 3:57.94 — 20th overall among the 28 entered teams. Team members included Carol Schroeder, Raelene deArmas, Sammy Silsbee and Alyssabeth DeJerez.

Schroeder is back making a name for herself this year. The Baron sophomore star ranks sixth best in the section in the girls 400 dash with a time of 58.81. Returning state meet medalist Melissa Mongiovi is the section leader at 56.84. However, Schroeder is within a second of third place.

Leaders of the packSweetwater senior Bryan Alvarado leads the section in the boys 1600 run with a time of 1:55.30 after finishing second to Vista Del Lago junior Jeremiah Blas (1:54.34) at last Saturday’s Mt. Carmel Invitational.

Eastlake senior Shane Martin has the top fully automatic time of 14.76 in the boys 110 high hurdles. He turned in a 14.45 hand time at the Chula Vista meet.

Martin finished as the top section hurdler in the Division I field at last weekend’s regional-draw meet, trailing Heritage junior Torrey Atkins (14.15) and Simi Valley junior Alex Billing (14.52).

According to marks posted on Athletic.net, other Metro student-athletes ranking among the top 10 section leaders in their events include: